Sheldon Keefe continues to shuffle the deck, assembles new forward lines ahead of Saturday night's game against the Habs
The Leafs have one of the deepest teams in the National Hockey League and, as a result, Sheldon Keefe has a number of options available to him on any given night. He hasn't exactly been shy about mixing things up and shuffling bodies around to get different looks, but with the playoffs fast approaching, there is some concern that the Leafs still don't have a solidified grouping of lines with just 4 games remaining in the regular season.
To that effect, Keefe has mixed things up once again with the forward groups and it looks as though it's Calle Jarnkrok's turn for a rest, as he was absent from practice on Saturday and appears to be the odd man out tonight against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena.
A quick glimpse at he lines below shows that the Leafs are indeed slotting Wayne Simmonds in for what could be his final home game as a Leaf. It's bittersweet, as the Leafs have turned towards players who can have a larger impact on the game, but with Simmonds being so well-respected and a fan-favourite, it's tough to see him perhaps on his way out after playing just 17 games this season. Still, it will be nice to give him a proper send-off. He was slotted in on the 3rd line next to Alexander Kerfoot and Noel Acciari during Saturday's morning skate.
Among the other notable changes, Keefe has reunited Michael Bunting, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on line 1 after loading up line 2 for the past couple of games, with the trio of William Nylander, John Tavares and the aforementioned Marner.
Meanwhile, the 2nd line still appears to be pretty loaded up, with Ryan O'Reilly resuming his role as 2C, with Tavares shifting back to the wing. Nylander is slated to play the opposite flank to Tavares. Unsurprisingly, the 4th line of Zash Aston-Reese, David Kampf and Sam Lafferty remains intact. They've been an absolute force and, on most nights, appear to be the best two-way 4th line in the NHL.
